DENVER – In honor of Children’s Health Month, yesterday the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the availability of nearly $30 million to support safe drinking water and cleaner air. EPA is making $20 million available for states and tribes to test for lead in drinking water at schools and childcare facilities. At the same time, EPA is announcing approximately $9 million in rebates to public school bus fleet owners to help them replace older school buses with cleaner, more modern vehicles. For more on this announcement visit: https://go.usa.gov/xPKDp In addition to the newly announced resources, EPA has guidance, recommendations, and programs available to support schools in ensuring clean, healthy, and environmentally conscious school communities. “Our schools reflect the best of our communities,” said EPA Regional Administrator Doug Benevento. “EPA offers a variety of resources to help school administrators and parents provide safe places to learn and educate students about environmental stewardship.” A healthy school community starts with traveling to and from school. When safe, walking or biking to school can help children meet the recommended physical activity levels on weekdays, while helping to reduce traffic, lower pollutants, and save money. Clean school buses and anti-idling policies for buses, passenger vehicles, and delivery trucks help reduce emissions in and outside schools. The EPA’s Clean School Bus Program, School Siting Guidelines and Idle-Free Schools Toolkit are useful resources to establish and maintain a responsible transportation program for your school. Inside and out, it’s important to understand how school communities can be protective of health. From recess to organized sports, knowing

BOSTON – The EPA has confirmed that New Englanders experienced a slight increase in the number of unhealthy air quality days this year, compared to 2017. Based on preliminary data collected between March and September 2018, there were 28 days when ozone monitors in New England recorded ozone concentrations above levels considered healthy. By contrast, in 2017 there were 25 unhealthy ozone days in New England. Hot, sunny, summery weather is conducive to ozone formation, and is variable from year to year. The 2018 summer was warmer than average in New England, and slightly warmer than the summer of 2017. Since 1983, New England has experienced a decrease in the number of unhealthy ozone days. In 1983, New England had 118 unhealthy days, compared with only 28 this year. This downward trend is due to a reduction in emissions that form ozone. The number of unhealthy days (when ozone concentrations exceed the 0.070 parts per million standard) vary from year to year, due to weather conditions. The number of unhealthy ozone days in each state this summer, and for last summer are as follows: State 2018 Ozone Exceedences 2017 Ozone Exceedences Connecticut 23 20 Massachusetts 12 12 Rhode Island 12 6 New Hampshire 6 5 Maine 3 6 Vermont 1 1 “While we have made good progress reducing ozone pollution over the past several decades, more work needs to be done to ensure that people can enjoy good air quality, even during a hot

ARLINGTON, VA. – A new report from Rare’s Center for Behavior & the Environment quantifies the contribution individual behavior change can make toward curbing greenhouse gas emissions. The Center’s analysis of 80 climate solutions outlined in Project Drawdown, a comprehensive plan to mitigate global warming, found that individual behavior plays a significant role in 30 of them. Further analysis of those 30 solutions, based on the emissions reduction potential estimates in Drawdown, found that greater adoption could help reduce about one-third of the projected global emissions between 2020 to 2050. The report also offers practitioners behavioral science tools to promote the adoption of the solutions. “Undoubtedly, this list does demonstrate the massive potential that individuals and communities can have in terms of contributing to efforts to reduce emissions,” reads the report. “Solving the global climate change crisis is going to rely on, in one way or another, changing human behavior.” The report divides the 30 solutions into four categories (food; agriculture and land management; transportation; and energy and materials) and identifies significant potential for mitigation. The total emissions reduction potential of these solutions is between 393 and 729 gigatons of carbon dioxide-equivalent greenhouse gases. Based on Drawdown’s modeling estimates, the projected total greenhouse gas emissions from 2020-2050 is 1,979 gigatons. Therefore, large-scale adoption of these 30 behavioral solutions could mitigate up to 36.8 percent of emissions between 2020 and 2050, increasing the chances for achieving the necessary milestones to keep global temperature rise to well below 2°C

WASHINGTON – Over the course of one week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed three separate rules — the Refrigerant Management Rule Amendments, Light-Duty Vehicle Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Program Technical Amendments, and Oil & Gas Targeted Improvements — totaling more than $115 million in regulatory cost savings. In addition, EPA has officially converted four regional haze Federal Implementation Plans (FIP) into State Implementation Plans (SIPs). “These rules would provide greater certainty to the regulated community in areas where previous EPA actions exceeded its legal authority or caused confusion and undue burdens,” said EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “A lack of certainty from EPA hinders environmental protections and causes paralysis in the marketplace, and we are committed to fixing that. Refrigerant Management Rule Amendments Today, EPA proposed the Refrigerant Management proposed rule, which would generate approximately $40 million in regulatory savings annually. The proposed rule amendments revisit the Agency’s approach to regulating appliances containing substitute refrigerants, such as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), based on PEA’s proposed interpretation that the Agency exceeded its statutory authority in extending refrigerant management requirements to appliances containing non-ozone depleting substitutes. This proposed rulemaking in no way affects the current requirements for ozone-depleting refrigerants. EPA will take comment on the proposed rule for 45 days after the proposal is published in the Federal Register and will hold a public hearing in Washington, D.C. Details on the public hearing will be available shortly. For more information, visit www.epa.gov/section608/revised-section-608-refrigerant-management-regulations Light-Duty Vehicle GHG Program The Light-Duty Vehicle GHG